Hitachi Construction Machinery rolls out contingency plans for parts deliveries following tornado damage

Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas reports that it has quickly rolled out contingency plans to ensure timely delivery of parts to support Hitachi customers in the Americas following tornado damage to its distribution center in Jackson, Georgia.

On Thursday, January 12, a tornado swept through Jackson, causing widespread damage. Hitachi employees were safely evacuated to designated evacuation sites, but the company’s 336,017-square-foot parts distribution center was severely damaged.

The tornado rendered the Jackson parts warehouse unusable in the near term – part of the warehouse roof collapsed, and there is significant damage to the building’s infrastructure. The company states that its employees “cannot access the facility or its current inventory until it is determined to be safe, which may take several weeks.”

“We are very thankful that our evacuation plan was successful and that no major injuries were reported among our valued team members,” says Al Quinn, CEO, Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas.

Hitachi has rolled out contingency plans to ensure timely delivery of parts to support Hitachi customers in the Americas, including:

• Parts will be directly air shipped to dealers from the master warehouse in Japan and other global Hitachi warehouses.

• Parts being received from company suppliers will be redirected and shipped directly from a secondary warehouse in Georgia while an enhanced parts receiving and shipping function is implemented.

• A temporary external warehouse is being set up to receive additional parts.

• Once the ability to recover the current inventory in the Jackson warehouse is authorized, Hitachi will relocate this inventory to the other local warehouses for access by its dealers.

“We are taking steps to prevent any disruption to our customers’ businesses by employing the full breadth of Hitachi resources,” says Quinn. “We will do whatever it takes to be the best supplier our customers and dealers work with.”

Hitachi is also making a sizable donation to a local community support group to aid in the support and recovery this storm brought to the local community.

The Jackson parts warehouse began operation in March 2022 to fortify the Hitachi Construction Machinery parts supply system in the Americas. The warehouse stored parts for distribution within the United States, Canada and Latin America.